Day 4 - Up Close

Future Plums
Tree in the park where I walk the dogs
Totally edible in about 2 more months!

Day 3 - On Your Plate

Sushi - Delivered

Photo A Day Challenge

....trying photo a day

I love the site Paris Daily Photo.  It is a local guy who posts a picture a day of things and places around Paris.  Love a locals view on things!

Through this site, I learned there are groups of people who have started doing "photo a day" postings.  It made me think "well, I should give that a try".  I mean, I am living in one of the most photographed cities in the world.  What better medium could I ask for!

The list I chose to follow was posted at Fat Mum Slim.

I have decided to post the pictures on my blog and on Instagram (if I can figure it out!).  Most of these will be "wordless" postings, sometimes with a little explanation.  Just a quick picture!  

Here we go.....

Morning
View from my window

...weird Frenchie pizza

We have Dominos.  We have Pizza Hut.  But their pizzas are not what you would find in the U.S.

Yep, those are strips of bacon laid on top.
For a promo shot, those strips are looking a little underdone for me.

Stuffed crust?  French style.
Yep, those are pockets of cheese balls.

They also have had a promo around for the Curry Pizza (couldn't find a picture).  Just picture a yellow pizza with chunks of chicken on it......yep, not a pretty picture.


We also have places with funny names like Speed Rabbit, Allo Pizza and Web Pizza.

Oddly, not on the world wide web for ordering......

Despite the name, slowest delivery experience yet!

Haven't tried them.  Seen the shops.
They look as dodgy as the fella on the logo!

But never fear.  We have found our favorite "to go" pizza  joint.  No logo to show, but it is called Pizza West.  Even better, it's on Patrick's way home, so Friday has been declared "pizza night" at our house since he has the car on Fridays.

Pepperoni just like home

Green pepper, beef and pepperoni.  Yum!

They also have really good chicken wings.  Bonus!

...a few favorite things

Patrick, that lucky duck, is in Chicago for the next 10 days.  I know it's work and he's not there for fun, but man, I am jealous.

It's the silly things I find myself missing about not being in an English speaking community.  Things like begin able to eavesdrop on conversations, reading lost notes/shopping lists you may find lying around, picking up and reading the free newspapers on the corner.  I told Patrick to read everything he saw for me right down to the adverts on the sides of buses!  I am getting better at deciphering things here, but the "not even having to think about it" reading/listening I sure do miss.

I have been thinking recently, "will there be things I miss when we leave here?".  Well #1 on that list is the GREAT education my kids are getting at the British School a la Schneider Electric.  Thanks Schneider.  It's about the only thing in the expat package that you guys have done well!

I will also miss Picard.  This place is like no other I have ever seen.  Think if The Fresh Market and Trader Joe's had a delicious baby.  It is a store dedicated to frozen food.  Now, I know what you're thinking, "frozen food - big whoop" but this is not Stouffer's or Lean Cuisine.  This stuff is so good.  Everything we have tried as been delicious.  I stopped yesterday on my way to get the kids and for 40 Euros ($53.00 U.S.) I got 2 bags of chicken nuggets (each bag has enough for about 4 meals), and bag of french fries, two boxes of super yummy egg rolls, Citron (lemon) pre marinated chicken breasts (again, yummy), a box of breaded fish fillets (think British fish and chips), a box of 10 Bio steak hache (preformed hamburger patties - the good ones with only 5% fat) and 3 micro-steam bags of green veggies (snow peas/broccoli/spinach/garden pea variety).  There was so much more I wanted to get, but alas, French freezers are small.  And because of the small refrigerator/freezer size it seems there is a fresh market set up somewhere close everyday and small grocery stores on every block with people trekking in and out all day.  Maybe the grocers and farmers have a deal with refrigerator makers......

A typical inside of a Picard
Row and row after chest freezer filled with some of
the most tasty stuff around

Much like fresh markets and grocers
you can find a Picard in every neighborhood

While I don't go daily (or even weekly), the fact that I could go to a fresh market is a nice benefit of being here.  There is a fantastic, huge market twice a week (Thursday/Sunday) about 3 miles from our apartment.  It is like a combination of a flea market and fresh market so you can find anything from fresh veggies and fruit to "fell off the back of the truck" electronics and mattresses!  The bulk of the food market is in a permanent building and walking down the isles is an adventure.  There are, of course, plenty of booths selling veggies and fruit but others are hawking chickens with their heads still attached (eew!),  artisan cheeses and homemade honey and a huge selection of hard salami and cured meat.  The French love their charcuterie (branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork.  Originally intended as a way to preserve meats before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for their flavors derived from the preservation processes).

Maybe they're just sleeping.....

The other nice thing that I don't partake in as often as I could are the patisseries and boulangeries. But maybe that's a good thing.  Even though I'm walking the dogs twice as much, you could gain wait just walking into one.  

It has been raining here for about 2 weeks straight.  Not constant rain, but enough to make you think twice about going out and about.  This week we saw some sun for a couple hours each day, but other than those times it has been quite gray.  I have never been a fan of hot weather, but a little sun would be nice.  I guess that will be another thing I miss (depending on where we "land" next), the cooler weather that lasts longer.

I hope Patrick is enjoying the U.S.A.  The kids gave him their list of things to bring back, like the all important Reese's Cups and Lucky Charms but I just hope he's reading and maybe, eavesdropping on the elevator!

....my life has gone to the dogs

The Players

Morgan
a.k.a  MoMo,  Mo, Lard Butt

Morgan is half labrador and half golden retriever (on her mother's side!).  She is a lover.  She thinks that everyone she sees should be greeted with a bark and a bout of vigorous tail wagging.  She is stronger than she knows and in her mind she is much smaller than in real life.  On a recent trip to the vet (more on that later) she had everyone in the waiting room smiling as tried repeatedly  to climb on my lap and sit there.  Morgan has settled into apartment life, but she is a little big to be an apartment dog.  She also is the barker of the pair and thinks that every door slam she hears in the building or person she can see in the garden must be greeted with a bark.


She has a problem with pulling on her lead during a walk and therefore requires a head halter or harness.  As I mentioned, she is strong and has on two occasions (so far) actually pulled me over in her attempts to say "hello" to people before we got her on a restraint system.  She has gotten a lot better over the course of this last year and only pulls for the first bit of the walk and then settles into a reasonable pace.

Einstein
a.k.a.  Einey, Whiney, Meat Brick

Einstein started life as what we refer to as her "ditch dog" period.  She was found with 3 other puppies in a ditch and since I am a sucker for hard luck cases, took her in.  As best as I can piece together by her looks, she is part Shiba Inu, part pomeranian, maybe a little border collie and, we are almost certain, space alien. 


She is a better size for apartment life and seems to be able to successfully ignore everything and be quiet (unless Morgan tells her otherwise).  She is not a "puller" when walked alone and seems to need less trips out than Morgan.  For a little dog, she has a huge bladder!  However, Einstein has a problem.

Redirected Aggression: This type of aggression is relatively common, but is a behavior that pet owners may not always understand. If a dog is aroused into an aggressive response by a person or animal that he is prevented from attacking, he may redirect this aggression onto someone else. A common example occurs when two family dogs become excited, bark and growl in response to another dog passing through the front yard. The two dogs, confined behind a fence, may turn and attack each other because they can't attack the intruder.

Both dogs don't have this problem (thankfully), so what happens is Einstein attacks Morgan and Morgan is forced to defend herself and then I have a full blown dog fight on my hands.  This has happened on four occasions when I have been walking them resulting in 3 weeping, hysterical phone calls to Patrick (Sorry, Patrick!) and one that hit me on a very bad day and resulted in hysterical yelling at said dogs (Sorry, Neighbors!).  There have been smaller fights in the apartment, but are usually quickly resolved and most commonly started over food issues.  The ones outside however are on a much grander scale and infinitely more embarrassing.  I can only stand there and wait for a lull in the fighting to try and separate them.  Until recently, we have only suffered small ear wounds and lots of slobbered on fur.  The last fight however landed Morgan 4 trips to the vet, 15 days of antibiotics and a scary 24 hours waiting to see if the bite to her front leg would result in nerve damage.

Me:  Some of you know already that I have to walk the dogs on average of 4 times daily since we were lied to misinformed about the ability to let them go in the common area of the apartment.  Now this is not a problem unless we encounter a "trigger" that sets Einstein off. This is usually in the form of another dog, but did happen on one occasion when a cat crossed our path.  I have been walking them together and when we don't encounter anything, it works well.  But since the most recent fight, I have been walking them separately because I think I might go insane if there was another fight.


So now instead of 6 times up and down the "hill from hell" I am doing no fewer than 10 trips up and down just for dog walking.  

Up and down
the Saint Cloud workout!

And if I felt bound to the apartment to tend to dog toiletry before.....I just added an additional 30 or so minutes to the regime.  I guess on the bonus side - my legs and butt are looking better. I really miss my backyard where I could just let them out and they could do their "business" in private without the drama.


Ah the joys of pet ownership.  Maybe instead of rehoming Squirrel the rabbit or Rolo the chinchilla before we left, I should have brought them instead of my "drama dogs"!

It's no fun being a "legal" alien

Did you hear Phil Collins?  Okay, I changed a word, but still......




 Recently, I had to undergo the lovely process of (1) getting my French driver's license and (2) renewing my Carte de Sejour (residence card).

First, the driver's license.  Patrick and I had the foresight to exchange our North Carolina driver's licenses for Florida ones before we left the States because Florida has a reciprocal agreement with France.  This means that you should essentially be able to exchange your Florida license and obtain a French one without having to endure L’Ecole de Conduite Francaise (french driving school) for which we have heard NOTHING positive.  In fact, since we live on one of the steepest hills in Saint Cloud, we are treated daily to driver's ed cars being stopped mid-hill by instructors from the Marquis de Sade Driving School (not the real name!) and then forced to try to get up the remaining slope.  It seems that in addition to having to take lessons, you must take them in a stick shift car.  While I have heard this is probably the best way to learn to drive (the thought being because then you can drive any car) I did not learn this way and still to this day cannot drive a stick shift!


We had one year to get this task accomplished, so as usual, we waited until we had a 3 month window left in which to accomplish this.  We contacted the agency Schneider provides to help with these things and were told the first thing we would need would have to come from the U.S. Embassy in Paris.  Okay, Patrick takes a day off work, we go, we get.....done.  Oh nay, nay....  Now you need about 3 reams of other papers (power bill, passports, proof of employment, etc, etc), all of which need to be translated into French (thankfully handled by the assisting agent) and at least 4 passport size pictures of yourself and make sure you are NOT smiling.....there will be NO smiling!  


Okay, done.  We are to meet the agent at the Prefecture (city hall) who will then talk to the powers that be and "present" our file.  Patrick takes the morning off work and we arrive on what has to be one of the coldest and windiest days to a building that looks like it belongs in a tenement.  No one is allowed inside the building until the magic opening time of 9:00 a.m.  Everyone is huddled in the corners of the building try to keep from freezing which is hard because the building is along the banks of the Seine so the wind is coming off the river with force.  


Once inside, we proceed upstairs with our number (which is like #1 since we are the first in) and wait for the worker behind the window to arrange her coffee, hang up her sweater, check her make-up, exchange cheek kisses with her co-workers.......you get the picture.....  She is the only one working this area.  The paperwork is passed through the safety glass (yep, safety glass) and she shuffles it around and passes it back through!  WTF!  There is a back and forth exchange with our agent and we are to discover we are missing proof that our U.S. licenses are real.  Are REAL! You have got be kidding me!  Isn't that what the Embassy paperwork was for.  Our agent is equally shocked as she has never heard of this mysterious paper and has never been asked for it before.


So now, we have to request our "driving records" from Florida and North Carolina.  The Prefecture here needs to know when we got our initial driver's licenses and since we both became licensed driver's in North Carolina, we need to obtain them from there.  But alas, since we are surrendering Florida licenses we must also show paperwork from Florida as well.  And then, it must all be translated into French.  Thankfully, something that would pass for what the lady wanted was able to obtained and ordered online, so we quickly sent for these.  We had them all sent to Patrick's mom (Thanks, Margrid!!) who then express mailed them to us.


Okay....back to the Prefecture...Patrick off work for the morning.....meet agent.......  Low and behold, it's our same favorite worker behind the window.  Again after the morning ritual (coffee, check; make up, check; kiss everyone in the office, check) she recognizes our agent and processes our paperwork fairly quickly for French standards!


And this is what you get for your troubles.....

Inside of license
Nice picture huh?  Tried to look as unfriendly as I could!

back of license

Talk about "is it real".  It is a partially laminated piece of paper with a picture on it.  Hmmmm, so much more real than my U.S. license which is encased in plastic, embossed, bar coded, and sealed by the State.....  The other interesting thing is according to this license, I am legally allowed to drive a motorcycle as long as it is under 125 cc's.  Okay.......  Nice to know, but I have never been "street legal" on a motorcycle in MY life, but France says "ppfft, is okay, ze paperwork, she says you can"!  Well that's enlightening.  Maybe that's why so many motorcycle riders here seem to have no idea what they are doing when riding here.

Vroom Vroom!  France says I can have one!

Next, because of all this paperwork shuffling, I noticed that my Carte de Sejour was about to expire.  I had to show it to get the driver's license and I noticed that I had about 2 months to get this handled.  You would think that since we have Visas valid for three years that my Carte de Sejour would be the same length of time, but no.  Patrick's is for three years, but he is the one working so I guess that makes some kind of sense....? Patrick informed the department that is in place at his office to deal with these things, and they put us in touch with same agency that helped us last year and in fact, the same lady who helped us obtain the infamous driver's licenses!  

So she sent me an email telling me she would need the following things:

• Work contract CERFA (which you obtained after the medical check-in at the OFII)
• Medical certificates of both of you (which you obtained after the medical check-in at the OFII)
• Marieanne’s birth certificate + official French translation
• Marriage certificate + official French translation
• Last electricity or Gaz or rent bill dated from less than 3 months on Marieanne’s name (copy)
• Patrick’s 3 last payslips (copy)
• Attestation d’employeur (attestation from Schneider saying that you are currently employed (original)
• Social security attestation (I suppose that it should be an agreement between USA and France)
• Last income tax
• 4 ID photos (3,5 cm x 4,5 cm, light background, without smiling; see attached format)see they actually give you the instruction NOT to smile!
• Attached attestation signed by Patrick (original)
• Application form CERFA signed by Marieanne

I was thinking "okay, not as bad as it looks", right, since a lot of the things on this list are the same things we needed last time and after all, it is the same agency handling it this time as the last time......wrong!  I received a reply from the agent the next day saying she needed all of these things as she didn't handle the case last year, so she had none of the papers.  Wait, wait wait......now I don't expect everyone to have electronic records, but surely there was at least a filing cabinet somewhere in that office with our file it...  Um, no, it would seem there wasn't.  Side note:  When you purchase anything here they will hand you no less than TWO receipts every time.  Their love of paperwork is epic, so you think they would have an efficient way to keep it handy.  Not so much.

Thankfully Patrick's work does have a filing system in place and they had the majority of these documents and forwarded them to the agent.  I only had to meet her for about 3 minutes one day to sign a form and take her my non-smiley pictures.  

After all this gathering of paperwork, you would like that it would be mandatory for me to present myself and give them one of my internal organs or something, but you would be wrong.  After all this, they mailed me a temporary Carte and will mail my, better laminated than my damn driver's license, "permanent" card in about three months (about 9 months before it expires and I have to do this all over again!).

So, alas, it might actually be easier to be an illegal alien.

On a lighter side - this has become the new breakfast must have for the kids!

"Home made" pain au chocolat

These come in the "tube" we all know and love like Pillsbury, but what's inside is oh so different.  This is actually a buttery dough and you wrap the little chocolate sticks up in the dough and bake.  When they come out of the oven, you have this super yummy fluffy pastry with melted chocolate inside.  Not as good as what you might find in the local patisserie, but nice because you get to eat them while they are still warm and gooey.